Airforces

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 39

Airforces

Intelligence

‘In association with ....’

and some significant milestones,
Lightning Force Commander, Air
Commodore David Bradshaw said
in November 2017: “2018 will be an
exciting year for RAF Marham, with
the centenary of the RAF and the
75th anniversary of 617 Squadron.”
Training will continue in the US
until summer 2019, when No 207
Squadron will stand up as the F-35
Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).
The unit will then return to Marham
and start to train UK Lightning
Force personnel autonomously.
Meanwhile, the RAF’s F-35
operational evaluation unit, No
17 (Reserve) Test and Evaluation
Squadron ‘Black Knights’ based
at Edwards Air Force Base,
California, is working to ensure
the aircraft meets its initial
operational capability (IOC) target
by the end of 2018, paving the
way for full operational capability
(FOC) the following summer.
Weapon employment and combat
tactics are among the unit’s
responsibilities, ensuring the
aircraft can be used operationally.
Progress with weapons integration
continues, involving Paveway
IV and ASRAAM. A US Marine
Corps F-35B test aircraft fired
an ASRAAM for the first time on
February 24, 2017. However,
integrating the ASRAAM won’t
come until the aircraft goes
through a Block 4 software
upgrade. The UK is receiving the
jets in Block 3i configuration, but
Block 3F software, the standard
for IOC before Block 4, is due
to arrive in the coming weeks.
The UK team embedded with
the JSF Integrated Test Force
at Patuxent River is expected to
be extremely busy in 2018. Last
August, Sqn Ldr Andy Edgell said:
“Much of the land-based F-35B
ski-jump testing is completed at
Pax River, so the focus will be on
developing the shipborne rolling
vertical landing technique, a skill
that will allow F-35B pilots to return
the jet with a heavy weapons

load to the aircraft carrier in hot

climates.” Pilots will fly a straight-

in approach, and reduce speed

from 140kts to 60kts over the

carrier’s stern. This method of

landing will mean less wear and

tear on the F135 engine’s Rolls-

Royce LiftFan and avoid causing

damage to the carrier’s landing

spot with the rear-nozzle exhaust.

Multi-role Merlin

All 30 Merlin HM2s are now

operational after being upgraded

with new systems. The Royal

Navy has a very capable anti-

submarine warfare helicopter that

will deploy to the carriers with 814,

820 or 829 NAS, while 824 NAS

continues to provide crew training.

One of the last pieces of the

carrier’s jigsaw of requirements

will provide airborne surveillance.

A £269m contract to Lockheed

Martin for the Crowsnest system

was announced in January

2017. This system will enable
      airborne surveillance and control
      (ASaC) Merlins to act as the ‘eyes

and ears’ for the new carriers.

Crowsnest combines an improved

version of the existing Thales

Searchwater radar and Cerberus

mission system with the existing

Merlin HM2 fleet, producing

ten role-fit kits and a full fleet

modification for all 30 HM2s. IOC

for the ASaC Merlin is scheduled

for 2020, and it’s likely to comprise

around three aircraft at that point.

The seven Sea King ASaC7

helicopters, operated by 849

NAS, will remain in service until

the second half of 2018, leaving

an 18-month capability gap when

the Royal Navy will not have an

airborne early warning capability.

Two Merlins, ZH829 and ZH831,

were flying Crowsnest trials

with QinetiQ for most of 2017,

although the latter was transferred

to Leonardo for conversion into

ASaC configuration in November.

Currently providing tuition for ASW

Merlin aircrew, 824 NAS will also

take on responsibility for ASaC

training. Some 849 NAS personnel

have begun to convert from the

Sea King to the Merlin, ready to

take over the new Crowsnest

aircraft when deliveries begin

later this year. Full Operating

Capability for Crowsnest, with

six aircraft, should be achieved

in early 2022, slightly ahead of

FOC for HMS Queen Elizabeth in

the carrier strike role in 2023.

The 25 Merlin HC3s transferred

to the Royal Navy’s 845 and 846

NAS are steadily being upgraded

to HC4 configuration at Leonardo’s

Yeovil plant. They are undergoing

a major ‘marinisation’ and upgrade

programme, which includes

installing folding rotors and similar

avionics to the Merlin HM2. The

first HC4 will be delivered to the

Commando Helicopter Force

(CHF) in the first quarter of the

year and the programme is due

to be completed in 2020. Seven

interim aircraft (known as HC3i)

have been put through basic

upgrades, including the folding

rotors. The first HC3 to be

converted to HC4 standard was

ZJ122, which has been followed

by ZJ127, ZJ120, ZJ121, ZJ129,

ZJ131, ZJ134, ZJ125 and ZJ128.

The first three have all been seen

flying in their new configurations.

When HMS Queen Elizabeth

is under steam with a full

complement of personnel and

assets in 2023 it will add up to

one of the biggest step-changes

ever seen in any of the three

services’ capabilities. At the

same time, the UK will be able to

show that it once again has an

impressive maritime capability,

after 13 years in the wilderness.

The F-35B is the centrepiece of the UK’s

future carrier strike capabilities, fulfilling

the maritime power-projection capability

lost with the retirement of the Harrier.

The first four jets for No 617 Squadron

‘Dambusters’ are expected to arrive in the

UK this summer. Jamie Hunter

A Merlin HM2 prepares to take off

from HMS ‘St Albans’ during the

warship’s 2017 Christmas patrol.

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AFM